In a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material, coloring of a photographic emulsion layer and/or other hydrophilic colloid layers is often carried out for the purpose of absorbing light of a specific wavelength range.
When it is necessary to control the spectral composition of light incident to a photographic emulsion layer, a colored layer is usually provided farther from a support than the photographic emulsion layer. Such colored layer is called a filter layer. If plural photographic emulsion layers are involved, the filter layer may be interposed therebetween.
For the purpose of preventing blurring of an image, that is, halation caused by light which is scattered in or after passing through a photographic emulsion layer and is reflected on an interface between the emulsion layer and support or a surface of a light-sensitive material on a support side opposite to the emulsion layer to enter the photographic emulsion layer once again, a colored layer which is called an anti-halation layer is provided between the photographic emulsion layer and the support, or on a side of the support opposite to the photographic emulsion layer. When plural photographic emulsion layers are involved, the anti-halation layer may be interposed therebetween.
The photographic emulsion layer is sometimes colored in order to prevent the degradation of an image sharpness (in general, this phenomenon is called an irradiation) caused by a light scattered in the photographic emulsion layer.
Dyes are usually incorporated into these hydrophilic colloid layers to be colored. These dyes are requested to satisfy the following conditions:
(1) having an appropriate spectral absorption according to use purposes;
(2) photochemically inactive, that is, not giving bad side effects, for example, reduction of sensitivity, degradation of latent image, and fogging, to the characteristics of a silver halide photographic emulsion layer in a chemical sense;
(3) bleached in photographic processing steps or eluted in a processing solution or washing water to leave no harmful color on a processed photographic light-sensitive layer;
(4) not diffusing from a colored layer to the other layers; and
(5) having an excellent aging stability in a solution or a photographic material and not discoloring and fading.
In particular, where a colored layer is a filter layer or an anti-halation layer provided on the same side of a support as a photographic emulsion layer, it is necessary in many cases that those layers are selectively colored and that the other layers are not substantially colored, because otherwise not only a harmful spectral effect is exerted to the other layers but also an effect as a filter layer or an anti-halation layer is reduced. As a matter of fact, however, a layer containing a dye contacts the other hydrophilic colloid layers in a wet condition to often permit a part of the dye to diffuse from the former to the latter. Many efforts have so far been made in order to prevent such diffusion of the dye.
For example, methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,548,564, 4,124,386 and 3,625,694, in which a hydrophilic polymer having a charge opposite to a dissociated anionic dye are incorporated as a mordant into a layer to localize the dye in a specific layer by means of an interaction with a dye molecule.
Further, the methods in which a specific layer is colored with a water insoluble solid dye are disclosed in JP-A-56-12639 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an unexamined published Japanese patent application), JP-A-55-155350, JP-A-55-155351, JP-A-63-27838, and JP-A-63-197943, European Patents 15,601, 274,723, 276,566 and 299,435, U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,150, and International Patent W088/04794.
Compound 52 described in JP-A-1-307363 is scarcely soluble in oil and difficult to disperse.
Further, the methods in which a specific layer is colored with metal salt fine particles adsorbing a dye are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,719,088, 2,496,841 and 2,496,843, and JP-A-60-45237.
However, when these improved methods are applied, it is difficult to prevent stain contamination caused by the residual dye due to a slow decoloring and/or eluting speed in development processing if there is involved the change of various factors such as a conversion to a rapid processing, an improvement in a composition of a processing solution and an improvement in a composition of a photographic emulsion.
Meanwhile, the dyes in which an acid nucleus and a 5-membered heterocyclic ring are combined via a methine chain are described in JP-A-54-118247, JP-A-55-155351, JP-A-62-242933, JP-A-1-196040, JP-A-1-196041, JP-A-2-165135, JP-A-2-168250, JP-A-3-14438, and JP-A-3-167546, JP-B-60-662 (the term "JP-B" as used herein means an examined Japanese patent publication) and JP-B-48-42175, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,622,980 and 3,441,563. However, there are not described the compounds in which isoxazolone as an acid nucleus and indole as a 5-membered heterocyclic ring nucleus are combined via a methine chain.
Further, the dyes described in the above patents are mainly the compounds which are aimed at adding to a photographic material in the form of a water soluble compound or a dispersion of solid fine grains, and it is difficult to add them to a photographic material in the form of an oil composition and/or a polymer latex composition.
For example, when it is attempted to add the compounds described in JP-A-3-167546 (European Patent 0430186) in the form of an oil composition, there are involved the problems that a desired concentration can not be obtained because of a low solubility of the compounds to an oil and that a roughness generates on a surface.
Further, where a dye is added in the form of a dispersion of solid fine grains, it is difficult in many cases to control an absorption wavelength and wave form of the dye. In particular, where it is used for a filter layer in which a sharp absorption property is requested, it is still more difficult.
There are known as a methine compound having an isoxazolone nucleus and an indole nucleus, the compounds described in Angew. Chem., vol. 90, pp. 643 (1978). However, no applications as a dye are known.